Stamp Paid’s portions of Chapter 19 discussed a common theme of a “jungle” that existed within people. In these parts, Stamp reflects on events of his past, from his life as a slave with his wife, to the horrors of Beloved’s murder and its impact on Baby Suggs. These reflections seem to be a reflection of the story so far, and tie it together under this idea of a “jungle.” According to Stamp, white people believed that there was a jungle within each black person, which was a savage side to them that made them more crude. He goes on to say that this jungle was put there by these very same white people for forcing slavery upon them and all the horrors that came with it. In response, white people themselves developed their own jungle as they became scared “of the jungle they had made” within black people. This led to increased savagery on their part as they became frightened of the very slaves that they owned.
This part to me was very important because it acknowledged the psychological impact of the institution of slavery on the enslaved. With increased punishment came increased resistance and an increased rage/desperation among the slaves, as shown in Sethe’s psychotic break when she considered it better to murder her own children than allow them to be returned to slavery. It also reminded me of how slavery differed from the United States to the West Indies. Slavery in the West Indies was considered to be far worse than in the U.S. because slaveowners were significantly more brutal to their slaves. In response, the slave uprisings in the West Indies were likewise some of the most horrific uprisings in the history of slavery. As Stamp would say, in the West Indies this “jungle” was far more prevalent among both the slaves and slaveowners, and it demonstrates what human beings are capable of when their mental state is pushed to its limit.